Alone: A Tokka Tale
by churros-theultimatefandom
Summary: Toph hardly feels guilty about leaving her parents behind in Ba Sing Sae, but she's still going back. Will a conversation with Sokka change her mind? Tokka one-shot. Slightly AU Avatar does not belong to me. R&R!


"Toph!" Sokka yelled as he tramped through the forest, squashing the grass wherever he stepped. They had come back to the Western Air Temple after months of traveling and renewing old memories. His sister and Aang were a couple, but he didn't mind because Aang knew what the consequences would be if he got too close or if he broke her heart. Plus, even though Suki had broken up with him, he still had Toph, his best buddy… usually.

Right now he was trying to find her, because they had to leave soon and Sokka wasn't about to leave without her. They hadn't seen her since that morning, when she had eaten breakfast and wandered away into the forest. There weren't any signs of why she had done it either. She had seemed perfectly happy to Sokka the day before. All they had done was talk about where they were going next…

"Toph!" He yelled again, louder this time, looking behind trees in the process.

"Leave me alone, Sokka!" He was surprised when a voice shouted back, but not as badly as he was that it sounded watery… almost as if she was… He looked behind a tree and there she was, her face wet and muddy with tears. Her knees were pulled up to her chest as she leaned on the tree behind her, her bangs draped over them lightly.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," she said bitterly. However, to Sokka it just sounded sad.

"If you really wanted me to go away, you would have blasted me with earthbending already," he pointed out, sinking to the ground beside her.

"I know." She was quiet, not even looking toward his voice.

"We were looking for you. None of us knew where you'd gone exactly, so we split up in the forest." Her head moved in a slight nod. That appeared to be all he was going to get out of her with that statement, so he tried again.

"Why did you go off on your own like that?" He wasn't expecting an answer when she hadn't responded in a few minutes, but when he opened his mouth to speak again, she did.

"We're going back to Ba Sing Sae today. I haven't seen my parents in over a year now. How will they respond when I show up on their doorstep again?"

"Why do you have to go back?" Sokka asked the obvious question.

"Because it would kill them if I didn't. Because they need me. Because I don't want to be alone…" Her voice trailed on her last words, making them almost incoherent.

"What was that last one?"

"Because. I'm afraid of being alone." The words were still quiet, nevertheless Sokka heard them loud and clear. If he thought it was strange that she had contradicted herself, he didn't say so.

"You're not alone, Toph. You've got me and Aang and Katara and Zuko."

"But Aang goes off doing his avatar stuff, Katara pines after him, Zuko is busy running a nation and you're always too busy for me." Sokka could see her point on all but the last statement.

"I'm never too busy for you Toph. Not to mention that it is slightly disturbing hearing how my little sister pines after one of my friends." She didn't even crack a smile.

"You are too too busy for me."

"I'm not too busy right now…" He said, scooting closer to her side until their arms were touching.

"But you will be. Everyone leaves me at some time. You just haven't hit yours. When I go back to Ba Sing Sae, you'll leave and I'll be alone again." She sounded a bit angry through her sadness.

"I won't leave." He enveloped her in a hug that was a bit clumsier than he'd wanted it to be. She quickly returned it. All he needed now was for her to understand what was meant by it. _I'll never leave you Toph, I love you. _It couldn't be as hard to say as he was making it seem. Just as he was inhaling deeply to try, she broke away and stood.

"That's enough emotion for one day, thank you." She grinned while saying it, so he knew she wasn't mad. "Are my eyes red?"

"Not too bad," Sokka replied as he boosted himself to his feet and scolded himself for not saying what he needed to say earlier.

"Then, let's go back." They began walking together until Toph suddenly stopped. "Sokka?"

"Hmm?" She paused for a moment.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"But if you tell anyone what we talked about, I'll impale your head so fast, it'll spin on the stake." He agreed and laughed. The old Toph was back.

"Seriously, I mean it."


End file.
